Netflix EMEA Boss: “Healthy Competition” Is Our Biggest Challenge

deadline.com:

A healthy ecosystem and healthy competition is the biggest challenge for Netflix EMEA, according to chief Larry Tanz. Tanz threw the gauntlet down to competitors by urging: “We need all of us to develop the next generation of storytellers and want to get ahead on how we develop and upskill storytellers, writers, directors, producers and below the line talent.” He implied that Netflix is ahead of the game in this area, pointing to training programs the streamer has run across the world and an upcoming one at the Red Sea International Film Festival. “We have been pretty consistent in terms of our investment and growth,” he went on to say at Content London. “We are seeing that our locally-oriented commissioning approach is working for our members and business.

We want a healthy ecosystem and healthy competition – that is our biggest challenge.” He was speaking after a year in which Netflix has spent big outside of the U.S., with the likes of Black Doves, Italy’s The Leopard and the hotly-anticipated second season of incoming.

Tanz was on hand to unveil stats about Netflix’s contribution to the European landscape between 2020 and 2023. During that three-year period, he said Netflix invested €6.5B ($6.8B) in European series and films, creating more than 60,000 European jobs.

He flagged bit hitters like Society of the Show, Borgen, High Water and The Hand of God. For context, Disney has said it will spend $5B on European TV shows and movies over the next five years.